


one day, I think we'll make it

by GenericHero



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Promare (2019) Spoilers, burning hearts zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericHero/pseuds/GenericHero
Summary: Even after things have calmed down, Lio has nightmares. Thankfully, he doesn't have to face them alone.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	one day, I think we'll make it

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Burning Hearts Zine](https://twitter.com/BurnHeartsZine)!! Working on this zine was such a fun experience and there are so many truly talented people involved in it, be sure to check it out!
> 
> Thank you as always to my amazing betas [Miranda](https://twitter.com/mirmirthepanda) and [Brigid](https://twitter.com/angst_in_space), ily guys <33

It had been a few weeks since they’d saved the world.

Everything was different now, and it was taking time to adjust. The Mad Burnish had joined forces with the Burning Rescue to rebuild the city, and Lio had been staying at Galo’s apartment in the downtime. Which was a temporary arrangement, Lio reminded himself. One he shouldn’t get too comfortable with.

Comfort didn’t seem to come very easily these days, though. Even with Kray and Freeze Force gone, Lio was constantly on edge. He couldn’t cross a street without half expecting to turn the corner and find Vulcan and his goons staring him down.

And then there was the Promare. Ever since it had burned out, Lio only had a fraction of the power that he used to. But it didn’t take much to fan a spark into a wildfire.

_Kray Foresight’s sinister grin loomed above him in the shadow of the Parnassus. Lio tried to lunge at him, to move, anything, but he was frozen to the spot—literally. The Burnish… Galo… what good was all his power if he couldn’t protect those he cared about?_

_“I’ll never… forgive you!”_

Lio woke up screaming, his throat raw. He lunged out at the darkness, and in an instant, the bedroom was engulfed in blazing magenta flames. He froze, watching in horror as it climbed the curtains, the walls, the door—

_“Lio?”_

The door burst open. Lio tried to warn Galo to stay back, but he couldn’t find his voice. But Galo marched through the fire as though it was nothing, and once he reached the bed, he took Lio’s hands in his. Lio’s were trembling, coated in erratic flames.

“Whoa, hey, it’s alright,” Galo said, cupping Lio’s face in his hands. “It was just a nightmare. You’re okay. Deep breaths with me, alright? In… and out.”

Lio followed Galo’s instructions, slumping forward and letting his forehead rest against Galo’s chest. He closed his eyes, and gradually his heart rate slowed. The warmth faded from his hands.

Once he had his bearings again, Lio pulled back, holding Galo at arm’s length. “You’re not hurt?” he demanded, giving Galo a frantic once-over.

Galo smirked. “Your flames couldn’t hurt me if they tried, firebug,” he said, reaching out and booping Lio on the nose. Lio made a face, recoiling. “I guess you like me too much.” Galo’s voice was teasing, but Lio felt his face grow warm.

Galo made a quick sweep of the room, swatting at the remaining embers clinging to the blankets and curtains. Most of the fire had gone out once Lio calmed down, but the walls of the room were blackened with ash. Lio leaned back and exhaled, his breath tasting of smoke. He hugged his arms to his chest. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Galo said, pulling the ruined curtains down. “These were a terrible color anyway.”

“But—”

“I told you. Don’t worry about it,” Galo said, shooting him a meaningful look, still wearing his signature lopsided grin.

Once the rest of the fires in the room had been put out, Galo pulled Lio into the living room and sat him down on the couch. He draped a bright orange wool blanket over Lio’s shoulders and handed him the TV remote, then disappeared into the kitchen. Lio flicked through channels absently until Galo returned, carrying two steaming mugs emblazoned with the Burning Rescue emblem.

“Wanna talk about it?” Galo asked, handing Lio one of the mugs and sitting next to him.

Lio shook his head. “I’d rather forget.”

Galo nodded. He was silent for a moment, then delved into a long-winded, light-hearted anecdote involving him and the other members of the Burning Rescue. He talked animatedly, gesturing with his hands for emphasis and acting out some of the motions. Lio was still too shaken up to offer anything more than a weak smile in response, but Galo didn’t seem bothered. He immediately launched himself into another story, and another, the TV forgotten in the background. Eventually, Galo talked himself to sleep and sprawled out over the side of the couch, snoring loudly. Lio watched him for a moment, his mouth quirking into a fond smile. He tucked the orange blanket over Galo’s shoulders and went back to mindlessly flicking through channels until the sun lit the windows of the small apartment.

—

It didn’t take long for Lio to put together that Galo was planning something. Galo Thymos was many things, but subtle was not one of them. Galo had been running around talking to the other members of the Burning Rescue in hushed tones all day, and when Lio approached him earlier while Galo was on a phone call, he had promptly flung his phone into the nearest dumpster.

Lio decided not to question it too much. He had more important things on his mind, after all, and he was sure he’d find out one way or another.

“This is the third time you’ve almost fallen asleep on your feet today,” Aina commented, planting herself in front of Lio with her hands on her hips.

Lio jolted, nearly dropping the clipboard he’d been holding.

Aina frowned, squinting at him. “Everything okay? Galo hasn’t been keeping you awake with his snoring, has he?”

Lio felt the corner of his mouth quirk into a smile. “No, it’s not that. It’s… nothing, really. I’m fine. Uh… thanks,” he tagged on awkwardly. Interacting with the rest of the members of the Burning Rescue was still… weird. After all, not long before, they’d been his enemies, and he was still figuring out how to navigate conversations with them now that they were on the same side.

Galo was different. Easier in some ways, more difficult in others.

“Alright,” Aina said, a skeptical inflection in her voice. “If you say so. We’re here if you need anything, okay?” She patted his shoulder before taking off to help Varys with the supply crates.

Lio headed back to the Burning Rescue truck, stifling a yawn. Gueira and Meis were talking to Galo a few paces away, and Gueira shot Lio a smug, cheshire-like grin over Galo’s shoulder.

_Oh, no._

He knew Gueira and Meis had his best interests at heart, but ever since Lio told them everything that had happened between him and Galo and the feelings that went with it, they’d been plotting ways to set him and Galo up that would almost certainly end in humiliation.

Lio made a beeline for the group.

“Hey, boss,” Gueira said innocently, giving Lio a small salute. His other arm was propped on Meis’ shoulder, and he was still wearing a smug, lopsided grin.

Galo jolted and spun around, his eyes wide, looking as though he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Oh, hey, Lio.”

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Lio said, raising an eyebrow at Gueira and Meis.

“Nope,” Gueira said, popping the ‘p’ sound and draping his arm over Meis. “Think we’re all set here. Later, boss. Galo.”

“What was that about?” Lio asked, crossing his arms as Gueira and Meis sauntered off.

“Nothing,” Galo said, a bit too quickly. “Hey, uh, you aren’t doing anything later, are you?”

Lio considered for a moment, then shrugged. “I’ll probably stay late again.” The corners of Galo’s mouth pulled into a disapproving frown. “Hey, what’s that look for?” Lio asked, bumping Galo’s shoulder with his own.

“It’s just…” Galo scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I dunno, don’t you think you’re overdoing it? I mean, it wouldn’t kill you to take a break every now and again. You don’t have to rebuild the whole city by yourself, ya know?”

“I know,” Lio relented with a sigh. “But I can’t stand not _doing_ anything. Every moment I’m idle feels like a moment wasted.”

“Working yourself to death isn’t going to help anyone,” Galo pointed out. “You have to take care of yourself, too. Don’t burn yourself out, hotshot.” He knocked Lio’s shoulder with a goofy, fondly exasperated grin.

Well. How could Lio say no when Galo looked at him like that?

“Fine,” Lio said. “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“No more fire puns.”

Galo scoffed. “Out of the question.”

—

On Galo’s insistence, Lio took the rest of the day off and used it to catch up on much-needed sleep. Galo had replaced the pillows and blankets in the bedroom and opened the windows to air it out before they’d left for work. Although the walls still needed cleaning and the smell of smoke lingered, it was at least habitable now.

Lio slept clean through the night, but woke up to find the apartment empty. He frowned, then fetched his phone and dialed Galo’s cell.

“Hey, Lio,” Galo’s voice answered, bright and enthusiastic as always.

“Where are you?” Lio asked.

“Ah, sorry, I should’ve left a message. We got caught up with something, so I stayed the night at the station.”

Lio snorted, crossing his free arm over his chest as he paced the length of the living room. “Didn’t you just chew me out for working late? Kinda hypocritical, don’t you think?”

“Well, _I’m_ not the guy who looked seconds away from keeling over.”

Lio rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you in a few.”

After getting ready and changing into his Burning Rescue gear, Lio headed down to the station. There, he was greeted by a note taped to his locker telling him to meet in the rec room. He raised an eyebrow skeptically but followed the instructions.

He pulled the door to the rec room open, and a flood of brightly colored balloons spilled out. “What the...?” he muttered under his breath, shuffling inside and stepping over a roughly two foot deep layer of balloons that coated the floor.

“Hey, Lio,” Galo called out. He and the rest of the Burning Rescue, along with Gueira, Meis, and Thyma, were casually lounging on the couches in the center of the room, as though there was nothing strange about the situation. On the coffee table between them was a stack of pizza boxes that Lio was pretty sure was taller than he was, and almost every other surface of the room was decorated with a combination of balloons and streamers.

“What is all this?” Lio asked.

“This,” Galo started, pausing for dramatic effect, “is an intervention.”

“Pardon?”

“We’re going to get you to relax and have some fun if it’s the last thing we do,” Galo declared, standing up and puffing his chest out proudly. “We’ve got movies, video games, enough pizza to last us the entire day—”

“Between you and Varys, I highly doubt that,” Aina cut in.

“You did all this for me?” Lio asked, reaching down and picking up one of the balloons.

“‘Course we did. You’re one of us now,” Galo said, wading through the balloons to get to Lio. “That’s what we do—take care of each other. I told you, you don’t have to fix everything by yourself.” He reached out his hand for a fist bump, wearing a crooked grin, looking remarkably like he had on the day they’d saved the world together.

Lio stepped forward, reached past Galo’s outstretched hand, and pressed his palm against Galo’s cheek. Galo’s eyes widened.

“Can I kiss you?” Lio asked, quietly enough that only Galo could hear him. In response, Galo gently cupped Lio’s face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed him.

Behind them, the entire room erupted in cheers. Someone—Lio was pretty sure it was Gueira—ran up to them with an armful of balloons and dumped it over their heads.

The kiss was a bit messy because neither of them could stop smiling and was interrupted partway through when they were both tackled into a group hug, but Lio felt the happiest he’d been in a long while.

He knew that both he and the city of Promepolis had a long road to recovery ahead, and that neither of them would ever truly be the same. But for the first time in a long while, he was eager to find out what the future had in store.

With Galo and the rest of the team—his friends—by his side, he felt like he could do anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GenericDancer) or [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/genericdancer) for fic updates.


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